An artist’s success is measured in many ways, from charts to album sales. One relatively new measurement that has risen to the forefront of importance to increase number of streams on Spotify. The number of streams a track or album gets simply means the number of times that users play track or album. Getting a high number of streams is a complex thing, and a track needs a lot of marketing to be successful.
The Spotify Algorithm is a Useful Marketing Tool
The algorithm is a mechanism designed to control how songs released on the site are played. It is a huge influence on music tastes, and Spotify and other sites like it have such a huge audience. An artist has to use the algorithm to their advantage in promoting their music.
How Does the Algorithm Work?
In basic terms, the Spotify algorithm is a network of programmed software that runs analysis on user data and makes suggestions based on it. The AI is designed to monitor the genres, tracks, albums, or artists a user listens to, follows, skips, and saves. This data is used to source similar content that keeps the user interested.
This benefits Spotify because it gives users a seemingly never-ending stream of preferred content, maintaining interest and patronage. The continuation will be from a similar artist or more music from the same artist’s catalog.
Spotify’s editors use the algorithms to curate tailored playlists, mixes, and artist suggestions for all users. There are also general playlists with regular updates dedicated to specific genres or activities such as workouts or studying. These playlists can have millions of followers.
Taking Advantage of the Algorithm
With such an extensive range of functions, the algorithms are the backbone of Spotify’s success. An artist can use this technology to promote their music. Here are some suggestions on how to do so:
- Encourage Your Followers To Pre-Save
One significant metric that the algorithms use is the amount of pre-saved an upcoming release gets. When users pre-save a pending release, it means they add it to their collection to be immediately saved when it drops. Releases with a lot of pre-saves are promoted by the algorithm.
- Use Correct Metadata
The metadata is what the algorithm uses to classify your music. Detailed information about a release includes the genre, sounds, language, activity, or other factors that define the track. This information gives the algorithm a good idea of your intended audience and makes it easy for your music to reach their spheres.
- Send Tracks to Playlist Editors
This is a guaranteed way to get your music promoted. The algorithms are still subject to human influence, and these curators control the general playlist updates. It is not easy to grab their attention, but they can get your music into the biggest listening communities.
An artist should always create music with honesty. Some people worry that artists are deliberately creating music with the sole purpose of catching the algorithms. The tips listed above do not make an artist change their sound to please an AI. You should create the music you want to, the music that best captures your authentic artistic vision and who you really are.